New Siemens PLM Software Solution Ensures Product Compatibility Across U.S. Department of Defense
Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division and a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, today announced a new capability in its Teamcenter® software portfolio that will help ensure compatibility across all products supplied to any branch of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Developed in conjunction with Siemens Government Services (SGS), authorized reseller of Siemens PLM Software, the new functionality supports the DoD Architecture Framework (DoDAF), an architectural standard which mandates that all products delivered to the DoD include common architecture documentation for evaluation as part of the product development process.
"Today's announcement will enable the U.S. military and its contractors to efficiently incorporate a common architecture into their products at the earliest phase of the development process,"said Steve Bashada, vice president of Teamcenter Applications, Siemens PLM Software. "Using an intelligent diagramming environment, Teamcenter provides modeling tools that understand connections between elements. As a result, a common product architecture is built-in and documented throughout the development process, and product compatibility among all branches of the military is ensured."
Providing an “Intelligent" Link to Product Design
Due to a number of interoperability problems among various branches of the military services, congress passed the Clinger-Cohen Act which requires product architecture be considered and reviewed as a part of defense acquisitions. Subsequently, the DoDAF was established and includes a number of standard deliverables that describe the operations, system and data architecture of a product.
Initially this demand was filled by a variety of 2D diagramming tools which create good visual images but without an "intelligent" link to the product design. The DoDAF template for Teamcenter integrates a state-of-the-art diagramming environment with an intelligent database that supports not only the capture and delivery of DoDAF information but also the intelligence of the relationships – creating a multi-user decision support system for use by the services.
This new Teamcenter functionality is available immediately and played a key role in helping the United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) win last year’s DoD Enterprise Architecture Achievement Government Organization Award.
As described in an announcement issued by USJFCOM Public Affairs on April 18, 2008, this award recognizes the Joint Command and Control Architectures and Capability Assessment Enterprise (JACAE), which maps out the available various command and control (C2) capabilities and how joint task force headquarters (JTF HQ) can bring them together to support a JTF and its networks.
This award marks the second time the command has won an award for enterprise architecture excellence. They previously won in 2005 for developing the Joint Battle Management Command and Control Joint Capability Mapping Environment, a tool which JACAE replaced. A press release describing the 2005 award and its link to Teamcenter can be viewed here.
Labels: Siemens PLM
at 6:45 AM Link to this Article
Trade Showmanship
Instead of focusing all your time and money on planning and designing an elaborate display, spend some time on defining specific objectives you want to achieve during the show. Common trade show participants are looking to sell, gather leads, qualify leads, and to expose their product, service and/or the company. Prioritizing on what’s important to the company will set a clear goal and define what has to be done. Some businesses go as far as making that objective quantifiable and placing it for everyone to see at their booth. If your goal is to do sell more products than last year, post last years number up big enough for everyone to see. This keeps the objective in the workers heads and gives prospects walking in something to be curious about.
As the prospects that walk into your booth qualify you, you must qualify them. Separating the suspects from the prospects allows you to sift through the people who are just kicking tires to the people who will actually spend money. After your engagement question the next should be a question that starts to qualify the prospect. Each participant running your booth should develop their own qualifying question. They can be as simple as, “what made you stop by?” to “I am sure there are a lot of exhibits you would like to visit, can I give you a broad brush stroke of what I do but only if your really interested” but a qualifying question is necessary to make the most out of your time. After their response you know which path to take them down, either a disengagement statement or a next step question.
When the trade show ends is when the real work begins. No matter how much information, business cards, and person to person contact your company made during the trade show; without the sales call for follow up, don’t expect the phone to ring. Reaching out once isn’t enough; the more you make contact the more likely you will get the business. Everyone involved in the show should allot some time directly after the event to focus on sales calls the sooner the better. You still want the trade show experience to be fresh because prospects spoil fast like bananas.
Resolving these three common neglects into your next trade show experience will set you apart from the competition. Set and prioritize specific objectives that pertain specifically to your company, filter the suspects from the prospects that enter your area, and set time aside after the show to call your prospects to get the relationship to the next level. One last tip, have the biggest bag at the trade show, all the smaller bags will be placed inside yours and you will get the most exposure.
Paul Lushin
Lushin & Associates
at 12:28 PM Link to this Article
